The Temping Experience Part 1

Assignment 1: Receptionist

As part one to a hopefully short lived topic, this will be the intro into what I embark on along my road to finding success. As someone who, like so many people, is fighting the daily employment battle, I have signed up with a temp agency. Basically they offer me various short term assignments which generally involve filling in for people who are taking a much deserved vacation. Obviously, this is not something that I wish to be doing for very long but I figure that while I am taking the time to find my dream job and get on a career path that will actually lead me somewhere I want to go, I figure I might as well share my experiences. I also hope to learn a little something about the places I’m not so keen on visiting, or staying for an extensive period of time.

Please bare in mind that I write this from a temp point of view and actually have very little insight into what really happens in the places that I visit.

My first assignment was for 4 days and I found myself at the reception desk of a not very busy property management firm.

So property management – what I learnt from my very short visit seems to be full of very full inboxes with very little motivation to go through them. Tenants call you at every opportunity and at any time of day or night because it is your unfortunate duty to care that the ceiling caved in because of rain. Bills, bills, and more bills are on your daily to-do list and those don’t even include the ones you have to pay to keep your own household running.

On to the reception part of this position, and please remember that I say this from a very uneducated point of view and the fact that this generally was a very quiet office. But in saying that, I have the utmost respect for people who take this position on as a full time profession. Not because it is challenging by any means but because it is mind-numbingly boring. OK, so maybe if you are more than just a temp you probably have more day to day responsibilities and you could eventually build up a to-do-list.

For someone in my position, a temp, there are periods of maybe ten minutes when you have to take a call or stuff an envelope but then that’s about it. I find myself sitting there, begging for a box of filing or a storage room to organize, or even for the stupid phone to ring. I was told by various people in the office that this was extremely rare and that the regular lady who works there is constantly busy and the phone is ringing off the hook. I guess I should count myself “lucky” that for those four days that I was standing in all the clients/tenants/suppliers or anyone else who had any vested interest in the company all decided to go on vacation.